All five fights were previously reported by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), though a featherweight matchup between Team Alpha Male fighter Chad Mendes and Japanese import Michihiro Omigawa had not yet been tied down to specific date by initial reports.

Featuring a middleweight title fight between current champion Anderson Silva and top challenger Vitor Belfort, UFC 126 takes place Feb. 5 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

A previously reported fight between Jake Ellenberger and Carlos Eduardo Rocha is slated for the evening’s main card.

After just eight career fights and a meager 4-4 record, Omigawa (12-8-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) signed with the UFC
in 2007 and suffered decision losses to fellow lightweights Matt Wiman
and Thiago Tavares. His stint barely registered as a blip on most fans’
radar, and the judo specialist returned to Japan and continued to
struggle. But once signing with World Victory Road’s Sengoku promotion and
eventually DREAM, the 34-year-old found new life. He’s now won eight of
his past nine fights. The lone loss came in the finale of Sengoku’s 2009
featherweight grand prix, where he suffered a split-decision defeat to
Masanori Kanehara. But he’s rebounded with recent wins over the likes of
Hatsu Hioki, Hiroyuki Takaya and Micah Miller.

Mendes (9-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), meanwhile, heads to the UFC following the WEC’s merger with its
sister promotion. A two-time Division I national wrestling runner-up, Mendes is undefeated since his pro MMA debut
in 2008. In the WEC, he’s earned decision wins over Erik Koch, Cub
Swanson and Javier Vazquez and a submission victory over Anthony
Morrison.

U.K. native Taylor (10-6-1 MMA, 3-5 UFC) is fresh off a barnburner battle with Sam Stout at this past month’s UFC 121 event. It was Taylor’s first engagement as a lightweight after serving the bulk
of his MMA career at welterweight It also was his first fight in almost
a year after medical issues forced him to withdraw from UFC 112 and The
Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale (John Gunderson was his scheduled opponent
on both occasions). While Taylor’s octagon record stands at a meager 3-5, his aggressive
style has three times won him “Fight of the Night” honors. Still, this
could be his last chance to pull out a “W” with the promotion.

Ruediger (17-6 MMA, 0-2 UFC), meanwhile, is back on the books after a groin injury forced
him to withdraw from a meeting with Taylor’s teammate, Paul Kelly, at
UFC 123. Prior to that, the much-maligned veteran of “The Ultimate Fighter 5″ met
disappointment when he returned to the octagon after a three-plus year
absence from the UFC. In a short-notice fight, he took on “TUF 5″ rival
Joe Lauzon and was tapped out in a little more than two minutes. The
setback snapped a six-fight win streak in regional competition.

Johnson (8-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), a decorated high-school wrestler in Washington state, posted a
6-0 pro record and signed with the WEC earlier this year. “Mighty Mouse”
then suffered a decision loss to Brad Pickett at WEC 48. However, he
since has earned a decision win over Nick Pace at WEC 51 and a
submission win over Damacio Page at WEC 52. Seven of his eight wins now
have come via stoppage.

Yamamoto (18-3 MMA, 0-0 UFC), once widely considered the world’s top featherweight fighter,
competed at 145 pounds despite it being his walking-around weight. (He
even fought as heavy as 155 pounds simply to get fights booked.) After
opening his career with a 17-1 mark, he suffered DREAM losses to Joe
Warren (split decision) and Masanori Kanehara (unanimous decision).
Recently, though, he rebounded with a first-round knockout of unheralded
Federico Lopez at DREAM.14.

Pierce (13-3 MMA, 3-1 UFC) returns to action after a substantial layoff from the octagon despite going 3-1 in the neck-deep 170-pound division. Often criticized for a wrestling-centered attack, Pierce did his best to
talk his way into an exciting fight with Thiago Alves by criticizing
the one-time contender’s losing effort against Jon Fitch at UFC 117.
(Pierce also lost to Fitch by unanimous decision at UFC 107.)

Robertson (10-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC), meanwhile, is looking to make his first impression after he
was forced to withdraw from a debut against Pascal Krauss at this past
month’s UFC 122 event. The undefeated submission specialist signed with the promotion in the
fall and most recently topped UFC veteran John Kolosci at Bellator 25.

Ellenberger (23-5 MMA, 2-1 UFC) in March dispatched hot prospect John Howard with a fearsome
attack of ground and pound when they faced off at UFC on Versus 2. It
was the Nebraskan’s second consecutive octagon victory after railroading
veteran Mike Pyle at UFC 109 in February. The 25-year-old made his debut at UFC Fight Night 19 after an impressive
stretch on the regional circuit and lost a razor-thin split decision to
former WEC welterweight champion Carlos Condit. It’s the only loss in
his past seven fights.

Rocha (9-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC), meanwhile, is a little more than a month removed from an
impressive octagon debut in which he submitted “The Ultimate Fighter 11″
runner-up Kris McCray with a kneebar at UFC 122